THE WRONG SIGNATURE part -3

THE WRONG SIGNATURE

PART 3 — THE MANAGER'S CODE

Marcus closed his office door and activated the privacy setting on its frosted glass wall.

"I need both of you to leave these documents with me," he said.

Emma put her hand over the death certificate.

"I'll give you a copy."

"That's fine. I also need a copy of the original authorization and the account statement you received."

Clara nodded, but Emma remained focused on the computer.

"Where did the money go?"

Marcus hesitated.

"I can confirm that it left this account. I cannot disclose the receiving account until I verify your authority over the estate."

"I'm his daughter."

"And I am following rules designed to stop another unauthorized disclosure."

The words irritated her because they were reasonable.

Clara touched the corner of the original form.

"I came here yesterday at about one o'clock," she said. "I asked the receptionist whether this form would still be valid after Thomas died. She told me not to use it and to wait for the estate documents. I left without withdrawing anything."

Marcus looked at her sharply.

"Did anyone make a copy?"

"The receptionist took it to the counter behind her for several minutes. She said she needed to ask someone."

"Who returned it to you?"

Clara thought.

"A man. Early thirties, perhaps. Dark hair, gray tie. His badge said Nolan."

Marcus's expression became careful.

"Nolan Price is one of our senior account officers."

Emma looked from him to Clara.

"So she brought the signature into this branch, and two hours later the account was emptied."

Clara turned toward her.

"I brought a five-thousand-dollar form because your father told me to."

"You also knew he had just died."

"Yes. I was the person standing outside the operating room when the surgeon came out."

Marcus raised a hand.

"Accusing each other will not help me secure the account."

"The account is already empty," Emma said.

"The transfer may not be fully settled. Large estate-related transactions sometimes pass through an internal review window. If I act now, there may be time to freeze it."

He reached for the phone.

That possibility changed the air in the room.

Marcus called the bank's fraud department. He gave Thomas's account number, the transfer time, and the internal approval code. While he waited, he printed the access history and read it line by line.

At 1:08 PM, the receptionist had opened Thomas's customer profile. At 1:11, she had transferred the session to Nolan Price. At 1:16, Nolan scanned a document. At 2:57, he accessed the profile again from a different workstation. At 3:14, the full-balance transfer was approved.

Nolan's personal employee number did not appear beside the approval. The masked code belonged to a supervisory account.

Marcus knew whose.

It was his own.

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